Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald) - Oregon - USA

This is the best course at Bandon in my view. One of the most enjoyable courses i have been lucky enough to play (Royal County Down would be the only course that i would recall enjoying more). Of the Bandon courses Old Mac is comfortably the best condition and the purest of of the links courses there. The green 'complexes' are the most interesting and challenging of any course i have ever played. In my view the order of enjoyment of courses at Bandon is 1) Old Mac, 2) Trails - which i think has a number of similarities to Pine Valley, but i actually enjoyed Trails more, 3) Pacific Dunes - great course but not as interesting or original as Old Mac, 4) Bandon - some great holes, but less memorable than the other courses. I was somewhat surprised by the condition of the greens at Pacific and Bandon Dunes in early August when we played were significantly worse than the other 2 courses.,

Played Old Mac late June 2013. Of the courses at Bandon Dunes Resort, Old Mac is the most fun to play. Yes, the fairways are wide, but the challenge from the tee is not always simple. There are bunkers to avoid and better lines of play to get to. The challenge of this course is scoring around the greens. You will put from everywhere because that is the proper play. There are some great holes on this course. The tee shot on the par 4 3rd is glorious. You must drive over a ridge that has to be 60 or 70 ft high to a tumbling fairway. Into the wind, you must trust your swing completely. The par 4 4th is a monster, again into the wind, with a fairway above you and a long second shot awaits. The par 5 6th is very interesting after the tee shot with a super undulating green that is much wider than it is deep. The par 4 7th is my favorite hole on the course. A fairway bunker on the inside left corner of the dogleg should be avoided and there is much more room on the right of the fairway than you can see. The second shot seems to be straight up in the air to the top of a ridge to a huge undulating green. A most incredible view awaits you when you reach the green at the top of the ridge. This is a dramatic and wonderful hole. The downhill par 3 8th is divided by a dip that runs across the entire green. The par 4 11th is a fairly good replica of the road hole at St. Andrews. A very simple design that makes for a very challenging golf hole. The par 4 14th is a great short par 4 with a well bunkered and wide fairway and a straight up hill second shot to a wonderful undulating and massive green. The par 5 15th is downhill off the tee and the second shot must avoid a huge bunker (I think it is called Hell) that is about 100 yds short of the green. The green sits on the same ridge that you encounter on the 7th. More glorious views! The par 4 16th is downhill and doglegs around (or over) a 50 ft ridge in which a direction pole sits on top. You are not sure what awaits your second shot... the boarded green side bunker?... a friendly right kick on to the green from the fairway short that does bank to the right?...maybe you'll go long and sit next to the bell that will warn those behind you that you've completed the hole. More glorious golf! The last two holes are not to the level of the rest, but you have experienced so much great golf that you do not mind. This is a great course and should not be missed by anyone who loves links golf.

I first visited the Bandon Dunes resort in 2008 and could tell that it had 3 world class courses, each with different architects. With a reputation of being the best golf destination in America, the sheer whispers of a 4th course being created sent ripples of excitement around the golfing community. There is so much precious golfing canvas at Bandon that people will come from far and wide to play. Every living architect wants a course at Bandon.

This past September, I once again arrived at Bandon Dunes with such great anticipation of playing Old MacDonald. With its recent induction into the Top 100 golf courses in the USA and the world by Golf Magazine, and with Tom Doak signing off on the layout, the bar was set pretty high.

Once you come over the hill on the 3rd hole, you bear witness to a vast stretch of glorious links-land. The greens at Old Mac made my jaw drop and I credit Doak for an excellent result at Old MacDonald.

There are many outstanding links holes and really force the golfer to play the bump-and-run shot. You know you’re on a superb golf course which can’t be found anywhere else in America. The best holes for me included the 9th (Cape), 10th (Bottle), 11th (Road) and 16th (Alps). I’m confident that I will play this course again, and I’m sure the more I play it, the more I’ll appreciate it.

As a frequent pilgrim to Bandon for the last few years, I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of Old Mac. I have played it twice now, and must admit I am not as excited about it as I expected to be. It is a wonderful layout, and the influence of some of the courses in Scotland is obvious in the design but, like the Castle Course at St Andrews, I feel the greens let this course down just a little. I enjoy challenging greens with undulations and interesting pin positions, but it seemed that every green was slightly tricked up, and it was not possible to aim at the flag in most cases. The course is a good enough layout that crazy greens are not needed. Perhaps they will follow the lead of the Castle Course and change some of the greens to make it a little fairer and more playable.... Still, a very enjoyable course, probably the 3rd best in the Bandon complex.

If this is the first review something is really wrong. This must be the most obvious albatross to open in many years. Every hole is an absolute delight. The opener and the second are both quite good, but at the third the fireworks really begin and from then on you are in for a real treat. We travelled all the way from Sweden to play here and I'm pretty sure we're coming back. For me that would be a third visit as I was here in '08 too. And if you go, the drive up from San Francisco is nothing but fantastic.